Decatur's Vehicle Traffic Declining
July 21, 2008UPDATE: These declines are even larger than first reported. They are not the total decline from the first date to the second, but an average decline PER YEAR from the first date to the second. The total declines are more like 20% for most of these intersections. That’s a huge drop!
While metro Atlanta’s population exploded since 2000, smart (growth) ol’ Decatur actually experienced a decline in cars on the road during the same period according to GDOT and other independent data. Where can one find this particular data? Out of the 315 W. Ponce traffic study!
While I did take note of this data on page 6 of the study the first time I went through it, Lyn prompted me to go back and take another look.
There’s two sets of data…first from the GDOT…
At the intersection of Church and Ponce, traffic declined 4.31% PER YEAR from 2001 to 2006.
At the intersection of Clairemont and Garden Lane, traffic declined 4.37% PER YEAR from 2001 to 2006.
The other set of data uses a much smaller base (hundreds instead of thousands) and compares count data from a 1999 “speed study” to data collected specifically for the 315 project.
At the intersection of Ponce and Ponce Place, traffic declined 2.65% PER YEAR from 1999 to 2008.
At the intersection of Fairview and Montgomery, traffic declined 4.31% PER YEAR from 1999 to 2008.
At the intersection of Oakland and Wilton, traffic declined 3.63% PER YEAR from 1999 to 2008.
At the intersection of Oakland and Ponce Place, traffic declined 2.35% PER YEAR from 1999 to 2008.
Lyn also hinted that a GA Tech carbon emissions study, which will be presented at the commission meeting tonight, will also back up the data above.
Really interesting, given the hysteria surrounding the Wachovia project. I prefer to deal in facts not hysteria.
The reality is, based on the facts, that the sort of progressive, smart growth development (high density, mixed use, non auto centric) that has been going on in downtown Decatur is working. Despite all of the developement that has been going on on downtown Decatur over the past decade, traffic counts have declined, even on the side streets surrounding downtown Decatur.
Why is that? Because people can live, work, shop, play, use public transit, without ever having to get into a car.
Now the hysterics would have you believe that the development that has been occurring in downtown Decatur is out of control, that we have overbuilt, and that the traffic and parking situation is out of control. But that argument is just not supported by the facts on the ground – that traffic counts have declined in downtown Decatur, despite all of the new development.
The hysterics want to replace the progressive type of smart growth development that has been going on in Decatur with the type of development that is more suburban, car centric (lower density with more parking and parking lots) and less smart growth (higher density, mixed use, transit centric).
I say what we’ve been doing has been working. Let’s not move backwards.
Please see my UPDATE at the top of this post.
Is there any type of data that backs up the comment that people that move to Decatur are actually able to ‘work’ in Decatur? There is obviously a movement to get people clustered in work/live environments but I am curious as to how successful that is in Decatur? There seems to be alot more housing, but I have not heard about any decent sized companies moving in or setting up shop in the center of town other than restaurants and retail which are generally low paying.
Rick, I believe I read somewhere that Decatur’s daytime population is around 24,000. When compared to the 18,000 actual residents, you see a huge deficit in residents, not jobs. So I’m sure there are lots of opportunities for people to move to Decatur and work here too.
Also, the proximity to downtown and the presence of MARTA reduce car trips around our town, as people have other options for these short commutes. I personally bike or jog to work downtown a couple times a week, for no reason other than the workout. That’s an option available to many of us that doesn’t exist in Conyers.
Are alot of those jobs in downtown affiliated with Dekalb County and the City of Decatur and do those jobs allow people to be able to afford to live in the City of Decatur? I’m just curious. I hear the phrase ”work/live community” tossed around very freely but I still don’t see alot of people working near where they live. (unless of course they are telecommuting which is still a minority) So alot of emphasis towards housing and retail but not alot of emphasis towards job creation or stimulation packages to create higher paying creative class jobs in the center of Decatur. I understand people have the ability to ride MARTA into some of the other creative class areas such as Midtown, Buckhead or Perimeter. I don’t think many people work in downtown Atlanta…I’ve actually heard that there are less workers in the ‘Downtown’ core than there were 10 years ago. I just don’t see alot of people riding MARTA downtown to get to work. There are some, but not that many.
Rick, I think you’re coming at this backwards. People can A) find a job and then B) find a nearby place to live. And with our College Town situation and county seat, there are plenty of creative class occupations – attorneys, doctors, chefs, professors, and other professionals – taken by people who could do the live/work thing.
There is also a vibrant local economy of shops, restaurants, and other businesses run by entreprenuers, many of who could potentially live and work in town.
Lastly, whatever the change in downtown jobs has been the last ten years, it is still a massive job center relative to Decatur’s population size, with a 150,000 daytime population, many of which are also professional.
I’m not arguing that every single Decatur resident lives and works here – only that Decatur, due to circumstances of geography, educational institutions, and government, has an unusually high proportion of people who can and do live and work here or close by.
One data point: I work at Georgia State and either bike (if weather permits) or MARTA in (otherwise). I’m the only regular biker I know, but I know of several other GSU folks who mostly use the MARTA.
And yeah, I moved in from elsewhere after getting the GSU job, and finding a place within biking distance and close to a MARTA station was one of the hoiuse search criteria.
I’m probably not on the right thread for this topic but oh well…
I guess professors, doctors, lawyers, could at some levels be considered creative class but alas I’ll stay away from the semantics. I was more thinking of incubating knowlege businesses here in the City. Sure you have the universities on the fringe of the cities (Agnes Scott and Emory) but the downtown core, unless I am missing something, does not seem to have very many dynamic and growing knowlege based businesses. I love Decatur, but for the type of work I do, as many of my colleagues, I usually get drawn up to Buckhead, Alpharetta, or the Perimeter. Fortunately I can spend some time telecommuting. I’m not saying that the city of Decatur can compete against these knowlege hubs, but I would think there would be alot of opportunity to attract and even incubate some small businesses in the area. Are there any incentives in place to do this? BTW- here is a great article on the creative class. A must read:
http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200610/american-brains
The biggest problem with the traffic in Decatur is not the traffic itself but rather the parking. I am a business owner in Decatur on Church St. and I think the decline in traffic in Decatur is directly linked to the lack of parking and more importantly the lack of signage for parking. Many people from outlying areas view our little town as a painful parking experience foremost. Now that the parking meter rates in downtown have tripled this year, there should be some better signage as to where to park for a longer duration at a reasonable rate. I’ve had a business here for over five years and I’m still not quite sure what to tell visitors who ask me where to park. Imagine how confused they are.